The ultimate cheat

This past weekend a few friends and I got together for some homemade pizza. Now that I’m currently not really training for competition, I don’t care that I ate a few pieces! For those of you wh0 are purists with regards to diet, you are missing out. Everyone must indulge once in a while to remind yourself that you are still human. Just because you have made the decision to eat a few pieces of pizza or a sundae, doesn’t mean you’ve fallen off the wagon into a downward spiral towards the impending doom of obesity. I’ve heard arguments from paleo-purists like “How could you do that? You know how bad that is for you?” in regards to cheat meals and stuff like that. If that decision takes 30 seconds off of my life at the end, do you think I care? Might as well live happily while you can, right?

I am not suggesting to make this a weekly occurrence, definitely not a daily occurrence, but if you get a craving every few weeks, have at it! Have that bowl of ice cream or those couple pieces of pizza. It will satisfy your craving. Then, when you feel bloated and are struggling to keep your eyes open after your sugar crash, you will be reminded of the consequences that accompany those decisions. Hopefully, you will be less likely to let that happen again, at least for a while!

Now, about that pizza… One of my jobs when I was in Italy, which I later brought with me to the kitchen at Gracie’s in Providence, was making bread. This skill takes some time to develop. Learning the consistency of different doughs and the elasticity of the gluten is not something one can learn in a day. I didn’t make the dough from scratch on pizza night…I actually bought it at Whole Foods. They have a decent raw dough that bakes up pretty nicely for a thin crispy, New York style crust especially with the use of a terra cotta stone. The crowning achievement of the three pizzas I made that night probably was my bone marrow, and roasted leg of lamb pizza, as shown below. This was a white pizza (no tomato sauce) with fresh garlic, Narragansett Creamery ricotta cheese, roasted leg of lamb, roasted bone marrow, portobella mushroom, red onion, fresh oregano and squirted with lemon juice.

The pizza as I said was a cheat being that the dough is made from flour. In response to your question on grains, no. Grains are something you want to avoid because of the inflammatory and insulin response associated with them. Bone marrow is typically from a cow or veal, though you can get it from any land animal if you really want. It is a healthy source of monounsaturated fat (good for the heart), saturated fat and vitamins and minerals. See my post on bone marrow…